842 Health & the Environment

Tune in to our radio show on your local public radio station, or sign up for the podcast and listen at your leisure. Here’s what it’s about: How does our exposure to the environment affect our health? Medicine is beginning to recognize that what we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink are all intimately connected to our health. Endocrine disrupters such as BPA and phthalates may be found in medical products in the hospital as well as in food or beverage containers in our homes. How can we minimize our exposure to these compounds? (You can check the website at Environmental Working Group for skin care recommendations. There’s also a pdf on BPA and phthalates by the numbers.) Find out how the standard American diet (yes, it’s SAD) might be improved, and why we should be paying attention to our individual microbiomes. Guest: Tieraona Low Dog, MD, is Director of Fellowship for the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona. She has served as Chair of the United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplements–Botanicals Expert Committee and on the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Her books include Integrative Women’s Health and National Geographic’s Guide to Medicinal Herbs. Her latest book is Healthy at Home. Her website is www.drlowdog.com The podcast of this program will be available the Monday after the broadcast date. The show can be streamed online from this site and podcasts can be downloaded for free for six weeks after the date of broadcast. After that time has passed, digital downloads are available for $2.99. CDs may be purchased at any time after broadcast for $9.99.

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27 Thoughts Shared

Seren B

May 13, 2014 at 5:17 pm

I subscribe to your show via podcast, but am frequently several weeks late listening. Consequently I just listened to show #842 which was aired on April 10, 2014. I found the show to be quite interesting and wanted to get a copy of the “dirty dozen and clean fifteen”. However I could not find a transcript of the show from which I could copy this information. Could you please point me to a print source for the “dirty dozen and clean fifteen” list of fruits and vegetables? Thank you People’s Pharmacy response: Here’s the link to the Environmental Working Group guide for this year:http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

Shelley

April 26, 2014 at 10:02 am

Dr. Low Dog advised buying milk in glass containers rather than plastic. If that is not an option, she said, store the milk in glass. Many online resources claim that milk containers (recycling number 2) are safe. What further information is there to support Dr. Low Dog’s advice? Thanks so much!

alexis jones

April 12, 2014 at 9:45 am

I appreciate and admire Tieraona’s teachings and opinions, however would encourage her to face more reality. The world’s population cannot afford, either financially, environmentally, or physically for everyone to have their 40 acres with free range livestock and raising crops, especially since a great percentage of the Earth’s population lives outside of year-round farming. What does she propose for the millions who rely on frozen foods (packaged in plastic, partially due to affordability)?, how do you prepare frozen foods that are packed in plastic with instructions for microwave use? what are the lesser half of our population to eat and how does she propose it be prepared to be both affordable and nutritious? Besides the obvious argument that we simply have too many people on Earth, what does she propose? Thanks.

do

February 1, 2012 at 6:30 pm

Please help me find the link to Dr Lowdog’s website; I’d like to print the list of the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Thanks for another interesting and informative program. People’s Pharmacy response: Her we site is: http://www.drlowdog.com The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 are at the Environmental Working Group website: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

Sally S.

January 18, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Robin R, I love how you worded your frustration or struggle with trying to convey this important info — that you know to be true — but running into resistance! It’s like you said, no one wants to hear that the way that we eat is, for the most part, SO not good. I’m struggling with this, too.

LL

January 17, 2012 at 3:23 pm

What are the plastics that should not be used for heating foods as cited during this past Sunday’s show? People’s Pharmacy response: Most of our experts recommend against using any plastics in the microwave.

JDT

January 16, 2012 at 10:51 am

I found program 842 interesting and would especially like to hear the segment on PPIs. I am prompted to click an arrow to listen, but I have been unable to identify the arrow to which you refer. I am on an older iMac at the moment. Please help. People’s Pharmacy response: Here’s the link. Paste it into your browser.http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/siteassets/Lowdog_PPI.mp3

L.M.

January 15, 2012 at 2:22 pm

I really enjoyed your show today. I also checked out the additional interview regarding PPIs. Found it very interesting that the doctor mentioned an increase of heartburn if patients have been prescribed the medication (possibly not needed) and tried to wean off it. I have been on/off this med for a year and will now seriously have conversation with my doctor as heartburn is worse than prior to taking. I am also experiencing an increase in bouts with diarrhea and wondering if I should be tested for c-diff? Thanks again for a great program, hope it continues for many years.

Sandra M.

January 15, 2012 at 8:28 am

I enjoyed Dr. Low Dog’s comments but missed the “Was it 14 foods not to eat?”” It was about the value of organic strawberries/ apples? Thanks Sandra MIMI M. People’s Pharmacy response: You’ll find the clean 15 at EWG:http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

Jane B.

January 15, 2012 at 7:10 am

AJF

January 14, 2012 at 8:54 pm

I was listening to your wonderful program in the car today and was especially interested in the mention of polycarbonate. Some years ago I got new glasses from a national chain – won’t ever do that again – and didn’t even know the word polycarbonate until my eyes started tearing and itching all the time. I took the offending glasses to my old neighborhood optician and was told that the frames were polycarb which my eyes obviously could not tolerate and that they do not carry frames made of that stuff. I cannot remember what the reference was today, but it certainly made me think of my experience and the lack of knowledge of these chemicals being used on us. Perhaps others have had this problem as well.

Don C.

January 14, 2012 at 6:29 pm

Very good show. Glad to see a medical doctor is on the side of wellness and not just prescribing medicine. Her message on probiotics is crucial as healthy gut ecology is your best defense against disease. Thanks for keeping us informed. I plan to order this CD. Don

tw

January 14, 2012 at 4:06 pm

For anyone who may be worried about coming off PPI, my experience was quite painless. As I was losing weight, I noticed less heartburn and began cutting back to every other day, then less often as less heartburn occurred, over about a year. After that I rarely got heartburn and treated it episodically with antacid. Later, as I reduced my carbohydrates by about 40% and upped protein and fats, I was thinking the heartburn might come back. However, heartburn occurs even less often, leading me to think the carbs or fullness caused by them were responsible.

KMH

January 14, 2012 at 3:09 pm

Wonderful program today – so many important topics covered in a very understandable and accessible manner. Dr. Low Dog not only has great information, but very clear communication skills as well. You might all be interested in several books on the same topics written and published recently by Debi Waldeck (debiwaldeck.com). I found that her information explained so much to me about my own health challenges, but others as well. I only wish more MDs understood these very important facts, and could implement them in their own practices.

J. David Auner

January 14, 2012 at 10:39 am

Look forward to listening to this show. A new sponsor with a national focus but not controlled by the food or pharma industries would be great. In response to comments above, detergents and dishwashers break down bisphenol A/polycarbonates which make plastic drinking containers and toothbrushes containing these chemicals a source of additional exposure. Just look at polycarbonate product cracks and opacity after repeated dishwasher exposure. In response to USDA protecting the public -doubtful as they only protect industry and even cover up disasters such as Lab 257 at Plum Island.

A.L.

January 14, 2012 at 10:11 am

I love your show, though I am not always around a radio when you are on. I am particularly interested in your comment that Dr. Low Dog had some particular remarks concerning PPIs. I have been struggling with them, since my doctor prescribes a minimum of one every other day ( I had been on Aciphex for years, but can no longer afford it so now I use less effective Prilosec) to avoid esophageal cancer. But I have had calcium loss and low D3 levels (enough such that I suffered a heart attack) and still have bouts of reflux. How can I eat differently or change my habits in other ways to solve this condition without drugs? (I should mention that I have a congenital predisposition to but so far undeveloped hiatal hernia). Where is the link on your website to find Dr, Low Dog’s comments, please? If you go to this link you will find the bonus interview about proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and acid reflux. Just click on the arrow:http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2012/01/14/842-health-the-environment/ P.S. Have you considered approaching Whole Foods as a sponsor?

CH

January 14, 2012 at 10:02 am

I adore Dr. Low Dog’s work. I only rated this a 4 rather than 5 because the websites she referenced that I really want to visit were rushed by so fast, I couldn’t catch them web addresses. I went to her website and unfortunately, the promised websites were not listed either on her Helpful Links or her regular website. In future, please repeat (slowly) websites given by guests.

LP

January 14, 2012 at 9:18 am

At the end of this broadcast you mentioned, as I recall, something that she wrote on drugs that reduce stomach acidity. I take a proton pump inhibitor. Would what she wrote be useful to me? PEOLES’S PHARMACY RESPONSE: See the bonus interview here:http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/siteassets/Lowdog_PPI.mp3

Judy M.

January 14, 2012 at 9:08 am

Great show! Good information that I want to share with my grown daughters and friends. I see where you lost an underwriter and hope they will be replaced and then some to keep this wonderful program going. Thank you, JM

HJM

January 14, 2012 at 8:52 am

Seth

January 14, 2012 at 8:24 am

Good morning, great show this morning. I especially liked the piece about overuse of antibiotics in livestock. As a soon to be farmer and farmeress my wife and I are keenly aware of the abuse in these circles. We worked with Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm this summer. I was just a little confused when CAFO was not understood as “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation” but “Commercial Agriculture…” I missed the rest. I had just not heard the CAFO acronym used that way before. Anyway, I think if we are going to get the USDA to change it’s policies regarding overuse of antibiotics we will have to present a direct threat to human health because of it, which shouldn’t be hard. Cases of E. coli, salmonella, and camphilobacter are everywhere and can easily be traced to those sources. The industry certainly does not seem to want to change for the animal’s sake and probably not humans either but it is the best argument against systemic use of antibiotics.

Elisabeth M. C.

January 14, 2012 at 7:41 am

Can you send me the name of the web site to look up the cosmetics to check for chemicals that are harmful to us? I did not get this today. Love your show. Glad we get it up here in MD from WV, so I support WV NPR

Robin R.

January 14, 2012 at 7:28 am

I love your show, been listening for years. So excited to hear today’s guest!!! I’ve known in my soul these things forever and trying to explain this to family, friends, customers . . . is sometimes like talking to a wall. People just don’t want to “know” the reality of what we eat is what makes us healthy or sick. Thanks for having her on. Now I can have a place to send folks for a reality check on our foods in one amazing speaker. PEOPLE’S PHARMACY RESPONSE: Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on our interview with Dr. Low Dog. As you might have noticed today, we have lost KERR Drug, one of our two remaining underwriters (sponsors) of The People’s Pharmacy radio show. That makes it even more difficult to produce a nationally syndicated show and bring you the quality guests that you appreciate. Your words do much to bolster our resolve to keep on going. These are tough economic times for everyone, including those of us working in public radio. If you, or anyone you know, has a contact with organizations/products that might like to sponsor The People’s Pharmacy radio show or website, please send them our way.http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/sponsor-us/ email: questions@peoplespharmacy.com Thanks for listening and thanks for your kind words.

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Each week we send two free email newsletters with breaking health news, prescription drug information, home remedies and a preview of our award-winning radio show. Make confident choices about your health.